An Apple A Day
by AyamaWolfDemon
Summary: A fanfiction for all you Harvest Moon: Animal Parade lovers That is if you like Jin. So all you Jin lovers, i hope you enjoy my recent Fanfic An Apple a day... You know the phrase, An apple a day keeps the doctor away...or in this case close. Updated soon!


An Apple a Day…

Part 1: Moving in.

Moving in wasn't exactly my cup of tea, but it was reassuring that I wouldn't be depending on my mother, she had plenty of her own problems to worry about. My name is Akari and today was the day I moved away to start life, well my life that is.

The rays of sun beat down upon her, the dusty road bringing a longing for water and the heat quite intense on the long, yet open country road. Karina had been walking down this road for at least two hours, possibly more but she didn't want to think about it. Now tired and exhausted, she sat down, her back facing the intense sun and she began to shuffle through her small bag that she had with her. The bag contained a few essentials such as food, water, deodorant and a few "Girlish" things. She removed the water bottle and drank a good amount before pouring some on her head and brushing the water through her short, semi brown hair, instantly a cooling sensation running through her whole body. Akari's orange shirt showed sweat spots, her white short skirt and orange leggings were powdered in dirt, which could be easily brushed away by her hand but she chose not to because more dirt would just get on them. She sighed. "What was I thinking? Coming out all this with nothing but a few essentials and the clothes on my back, hoping some miracle would just fall out of the sky!" Just then a small orange-yellow orb of light fell from the sky and hit the ground. Karina stared at it for a few seconds. "Then again I could be wrong…" She said, now trying to touch the orb.

Yet to her surprise the orb moved away from her hand and almost instantaneously the light faded revealing a small sprite that wore an orange hat with a pointed tip, an orange shirt with a blue jewel near the collar and some orange pants. The little sprite also had short green hair or so it seemed because the hat was hiding his hair underneath. "Who are you little guy?" Akari asked. The small sprite backed up a bit, its eyes wide. "Can you…see me?" The small sprite asked. She nodded a bit and an awkward silence fell over the two for a few seconds, then the small sprite joyfully flew up and hovered near Akari.

The small sprite smiled. "You must be…then she was….YOU MUST HELP ME!" The small sprite pleaded, his wing beat relevant to that of a hummingbird. "Whoa, wait a second…First I'm guessing you know my name?" Akari asked. The small sprite replied. "Of course, its Akari isn't it?" Akari face palmed. "Okay how much do you know about me exactly because this is kind of getting creepy…" she said glancing at the small sprite through her fingers. "Well what I do know is that your name is Akari, you have just left your parent's place, looking to start anew like most people fresh out of school, so you walked down this country road hoping you'd find somewhere to live, yet your failing, miserably." The small sprite said with a light smile and Akari's eyes were wide. "Are you a stalker?" she asked. The sprite shook his head. "Of course not! I'm Finn, a harvest sprite loyal to the Harvest Goddess, if I ever did such a thing, the Harvest King would have my head for sure, especially with the girl who's destined to save the land."

"Wait…WHAT?" Akari said now a bit ticked off. Finn began to see this and he began to float back a bit. "Now, now, don't be so rash." Akari grunted and finally just folded her arms and dealt with it. Finn flew back up to her. "So…will you help me?" Akari shot a glare at Finn before saying. "I've been walking for over two hours and I don't plan to go anywhere till I have some decent rest." They both let out a small sigh; another awkward silence fell over the two for a few minutes. "How exactly do you know so much about me?" "The Harvest Goddess knows all and sees all, especially in your case." "Look about me saving the land, what land? Where is it and how do you know it's me?" She exclaimed, confused now more than ever. "Well the Harvest Goddess's words were as follows. "Look for the girl that has started her journey in life and is possibly looking for a land to own in the countryside, you might find her around that long country road that connects the city and Harmonica Town." Trust me when she said this road I wasn't too pleased but it seems that this is the only way to please both the Harvest Goddess and Harvest King." The small sprite said with another small sigh, now folding his arms. "So now that I've found you, you will come back with me to the Goddess Spring and you will meet the Harvest Goddess so you can start your destiny!" "Not moving…" Akari grunted. Finn began to turn red with anger. "But you must! I've been searching for you for so many days and it wasn't fun!" "And…?" "You don't have a choice!" he yelled.

Akari rolled her eyes but they both fell silent as a few squeaks of carriage wheels were heard in the distance. "Did you hear that Finn?" Akari asked, Finn nodded, now watching the hill. Just then a small wooden carriage came creeping over the hill, pulled by a light brown horse and driven by a man of his later thirties. Akari smiled and stood up, waving her hand. The driver of the wooden carriage looked at his watch then gave a small nod to Akari. "Maybe this is a miracle…" She said quietly to herself, now dusting the powdered dirt off her clothing and fixing her hair. By the time she was done the carriage had stopped right next to her. Akari looked up at the man and smiled brightly, also bowing. "Sorry to bother you kind sir." She said politely. "Oh no it's alright. It's been a while since I've seen quite a young face like yours coming down a country road like this, normally they would stay in the city because there's more technology and other things like that." He rambled. "I've lived in the city for pretty much my whole life and I can tell you now that I'm quite sick of it." He looked down at Akari and chuckled. "I guess that's a good thing." The man said taking his small straw cowboy hat off and brushing his fingers through his short brown hair and grabbing the towel he had and wiping the sweat off his forehead. Akari looked down at the road. "Does it ever end?" She asked. The man chuckled. "Yes it does surprisingly but not for another eight to ten miles." Akari groaned. "Really?" The man nodded and Akari sighed. "May I ask what you're doing on this road?" asked the man. "I was hoping to find a place to live in the country side but I never thought that this road was going to be so long of a walk…" Akari said still gazing at the road ahead of her. "Everyone is surprised of the length of this road." He said putting his hat back on. "Let me get to the point." Akari said. "I was hoping to get a ride to a place called…" She glanced at Finn and he whispered. "Garmon Mines." "Garmon Mines or maybe even a house nearby?" she asked looking up at the man with a pleading look. "Well if I remember exactly there was a small farm up for sale right in between Flute Fields, Garmon Mines, and Harmonica Town." The man said now glancing down at his watch.

"OH! I can give you a ride there but quickly, hop in!" "What's wrong?" Akari asked. The man sighed. "My daughter always chews me out for being late." "Oh well then I won't waste too much time." "Hop in the back." Akari did as she was told; now sitting on a pile of hay in the back.

The man clucked the horse on and they were off over the hill at a fast paced trot. "Thanks for the ride….uh…what's your name?" Akari asked. The man face palmed. "I was so worried about time that I forgot to introduce myself, my apologies. My name is Cain, I own Horn Ranch over in Flute Fields with my wife Hanna and my daughter Renee, and she's about your age maybe a year younger. The ranch also has the public windmill where you can make an assortment of things and also if you listen closely, you'll be able to hear the chime of the green bell as the wind blows by, it's quite peaceful." Cain said with a light smile, imagining this, Akari couldn't help but smile. "Sounds wonderful." She said lying back against the hay and staring at the late afternoon sky. "So Akari, do you want to be a farmer?" he asked curious. "I always wanted to be since I was a young child, always following in my dad's footsteps." She said glancing down at the little golden heart locket she had around her neck. "Well the small farm will be perfect for you." Cain said fixing his hat. "It's been a while since I've lived on a farm…" she said. "Why is that?" Cain asked. "I was too young to remember most of what happened when we lived on the farm, I was around two years old when we moved away…after the accident."

A silence fell over the two. "What happened?" Cain asked, curious. "My dad while he was outside taking care of the animals, one of his prized cows got irritated, ran at him and speared him straight through the heart, killing him instantly." Cain gripped the reigns tightly and the horse bit down on the bit uncomfortably. "I'm sorry for your loss." He said. "Its fine, the past is the past after all, my father will be missed but I know he wouldn't want me to mourn for him forever, besides he always said focus on what's happening today and live your life to the fullest because you never know when life might end." Cain smiled a bit when she said this and his grip on the reigns loosened. "Akari." "Yes?" "You're going to make a great farmer, I know you will and your father…I'm sure is very proud of you." Akari felt a warm fuzzy sensation in her heart when Cain said this and she hugged him from behind. "Thank You Cain." Cain smiled. "You're welcome." He said. Akari soon went back to lying against the hay, looking back up at the sky and admiring the few clouds that were there.

Yet her moment of peace was interrupted by Finn flying into her face. "Now that were headed in the right direction we have to remember about-""The Harvest Goddess, I know, I know." She said a bit annoyed. Finn continued to ramble on about the Harvest Goddess as Akari zoned out, fiddling with her locket and she soon opened it revealing a picture of her in her dad's arms with her mom smiling brightly as she used to, the picture was taken a few days before the accident had occurred, she smiled a bit. "_I can't believe it's been nineteen years…"_ she thought to herself, also thinking back to the memories that she could remember of her father talking to her and other things. One memory flew by of when her father held her tightly to him and told her. "I love you my little Akari…" he said with a soothing voice. With this memory Akari soon drifted off to sleep. "Oh yeah and Akari I thought you…..YOU WERENT LISTENING!" He yelled seeing her asleep, but he soon floated down and sat on the carriage soon falling asleep as well.

An hour or two had passed as the carriage came to a sudden halt, making both Finn and Akari fly out of the back and land on the ground. Akari shot up. "Huh?" However Finn was still face down in the dirt, still sleeping. Cain jumped down from the carriage and chuckled, seeing Akari. "Were here." He said. Akari stood up and brushed her clothing and she took a minute to view her surroundings and her mouth dropped almost immediately, seeing the view of the ocean from where she was, it expanded from eye to eye and the sea expanded out for miles and the sunset made the view even more of a jaw dropper. "You never told me that your ranch had such a great view!" she exclaimed. Cain chuckled. "Actually this is the farm that's up for sale." Akari smiled and jumped for joy. "And if you turn around you'll see that the farm needs a bit of TLC." Akari turned around to see the small starter plot, ten by fifteen square plots with a few tulips and some turnips almost ready to harvest, planted in twelve of the spaces, then there were five cherry trees planted in the same plot as well. The house was tan with an orange roof yet there were a few wooden panels missing on the left side of the roof. The barn had panels missing on the sides and a few on the roof. The coop looked almost the same as the barn, with the panels that were missing.

Akari looked at Cain. "Does a carpenter live nearby?" she asked. "Of course, right up on the mountain side or what is known as Garmon Mines." Akari smiled. "Thanks for bringing me here Cain." "No problem." "Oh and Cain….how much is it?" she asked. "I'd wait for the mayor for that." Just then an older, short man walked up, his hair looked as if a four year old style it, other than that his clothes were very prime and proper, quite fitting to his small plump body, the little man smiled. "You must be the new girl that Cain brought into town, pleased to meet you…" "Akari." She said with a bow. "Akari. My name's is Hamilton; I'm mayor of Harmonica Town." Cain looked at Hamilton. "Akari is interested in buying this farm, sir." Hamilton smiled. "Well let's see…" Hamilton looked around at the land and nodded a bit. "For the farm….five thousand gold." He said. Akari pulled out her wallet. "Alright how about the whole thing?" she asked. "Five thousand gold for the whole thing." Hamilton said with a chuckle. Akari smiled. "Sold!" She handed him the money and he took it. "Welcome to Harmonica Town Karina, I hope you have a wonderful time living here just as all of us do." Hamilton said shaking her hand. "Well I must be on my way." The mayor said running off. Akari watched him go.

"Well he was in a rush." Cain placed a hand on her shoulder. "It may seem that he's positive and says that everyone's happy but recently the bells haven't been ringing as they usually do, something may be going on with the Goddess." He said looking toward Flute Fields. Finn flew up to Akari. "Told you so." Akari shot a glare at Finn and looked at Cain. "Maybe you should get back to your ranch; I think you've been keeping your daughter waiting long enough." She said with a light smile. "Oh my, you're right. Be sure to stop by the ranch sometime, I'll help you get started with a few animals. You'll find my ranch if you follow the path that goes to the left and look for the big windmill and head in that direction, you can't miss it." He said, getting into the carriage. "See you later Cain." He waved and clucked his horse on and Akari watched as they disappeared around the turn.

She turned back around to see Finn playing with one of the loose panels of wood on the barn roof and soon it fell off. "Whoops…" Finn said giggling a bit as Akari face palmed. Akari then joyfully ran up and hugged the mailbox near her door which soon snapped. "Uh….i didn't do anything…" She said placing the mailbox against the side of the house. She then opened the door to the house and went inside. It wasn't the most complex house, a simple small counter space, a bed, a dresser, a table with four chairs and a bookshelf. "It's better than nothing." Akari said aloud and Finn nodded. "Well Akari now that you have a house and are all situated can we please go to the Harvest Goddess?" He asked a bit impatient. Akari dismissed him with the wave of her hand. "Chill out Finn." She said taking her shoes off. "DON'T TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF!" he exclaimed. "Finn I'm-" "YOU ARE NOT TIRED! YOU SLEPT FOR OVER TWO HOURS YOUR FINE SO LETS GO!" He yelled. Akari rolled her eyes and made her way toward the bed and Finn flew in front of her. "No!" he exclaimed. Akari pushed him out of the way, by this time it was already quite dark outside, the clock read 10pm. Akari soon tucked herself in and was reaching for the light. "DON'T YOU DARE!" Finn said seeing her about to turn the light out. Akari however turned the light out. "Night Finn." She said quietly. "Yeah whatever." He said his arms folded as he soon rested on the table. Akari laid her head back on the pillow and stared at the ceiling, thinking about her mother and father. "Love you dad, love you mom…" she muttered before falling asleep.

END OF PART 1!

Stay tuned for Part 2: Neighbors….


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